How to find the date coverage of databases

According to the PRISMA guidelines, you should report the date coverage of the databases which you used for your search. But where can you find them?

PubMed:

Available on the Fact Sheet: Medline

Ovid databases:
Date coverage is displayed after the name of the database in the Search area.
This is located just above the place where you type in your search terms.

If you click on the Change link above the database name, you can see date coverage information for all of the databases available in your subscription.


EBSCO databases:
If you click on Choose databases, next to each database is a little yellow quote bubble. If you mouseover the quote bubble, there is information about the database, and sometimes it includes the date coverage, but not always.

CINAHL and PsycInfo display date coverage information; Medline and ERIC do not.

Next place to check?

Google the name of the vendor and database and look for an informational page.

For instance, I googled: ebsco medline with full text

The first result was an EBSCO website with information about the database, including a statement about date coverage.

Proquest databases: click on the Databases link at the top of the page (to the right of Basic Search and Advanced search). Most databases listed have a date range after the title of the database.

Exploding Mental Disorders in PsycInfo

Probably you've already noticed that if you explode a term in EBSCO's PsycInfo, it only explodes down by one level. In other words, if your term's narrower terms have any narrower terms, those grandchildren will not be included in the explosion.

This is a real pain when you're trying to find information about all mental disorders. You've gotta chase down every last narrower term and add it to your search.

It's time consuming, and of course particularly galling because it's not a problem in any other database.

However, if I save and re-use the full explosion of Mental Disorders, what if APA decides to add another narrower term to the list between when I saved it and when I use it? Potential for missing something of importance.

However, life is short and work is plentiful. I'm darned if I'm doing this over and over.

So, here is the complete explosion of Mental Disorders as of June 17, 2014:


DE "Mental Disorders" OR DE "Adjustment Disorders" OR DE "Affective Disorders" OR DE "Alexithymia" OR DE "Anxiety Disorders" OR DE "Autism" OR DE "Chronic Mental Illness" OR DE "Dementia" OR DE "Dissociative Disorders" OR DE "Eating Disorders" OR DE "Elective Mutism" OR DE "Factitious Disorders" OR DE "Gender Identity Disorder" OR DE "Hysteria" OR DE "Impulse Control Disorders" OR DE "Koro" OR DE "Mental Disorders due to General Medical Conditions" OR DE "Neurosis" OR DE "Paraphilias" OR DE "Personality Disorders" OR DE "Pervasive Developmental Disorders" OR DE "Pseudodementia" OR DE "Psychosis" OR DE "Schizoaffective Disorder" OR DE "Bipolar Disorder" OR DE "Major Depression" OR DE "Mania" OR DE "Seasonal Affective Disorder" OR DE "Acute Stress Disorder" OR DE "Castration Anxiety" OR DE "Death Anxiety" OR DE "Generalized Anxiety Disorder" OR DE "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" OR DE "Panic Disorder" OR DE "Phobias" OR DE "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" OR DE "Separation Anxiety" OR DE "Chronic Psychosis" OR DE "AIDS Dementia Complex" OR DE "Dementia with Lewy Bodies" OR DE "Presenile Dementia" OR DE "Semantic Dementia" OR DE "Senile Dementia" OR DE "Vascular Dementia" OR DE "Dissociative Disorders" OR DE "Depersonalization" OR DE "Dissociative Identity Disorder" OR DE "Fugue Reaction" OR DE "Eating Disorders" OR DE "Anorexia Nervosa" OR DE "Binge Eating Disorder" OR DE "Bulimia" OR DE "Hyperphagia" OR DE "Kleine Levin Syndrome" OR DE "Pica" OR DE "Purging (Eating Disorders)" OR DE "Munchausen Syndrome" OR DE "Transsexualism" OR DE "Mass Hysteria" OR DE "Explosive Disorder" OR DE "Childhood Neurosis" OR DE "Experimental Neurosis" OR DE "Occupational Neurosis" OR DE "Traumatic Neurosis" OR DE "Apotemnophilia" OR DE "Exhibitionism" OR DE "Fetishism" OR DE "Incest" OR DE "Pedophilia" OR DE "Sexual Masochism" OR DE "Sexual Sadism" OR DE "Transvestism" OR DE "Voyeurism" OR DE "Antisocial Personality Disorder" OR DE "Avoidant Personality Disorder" OR DE "Borderline Personality Disorder" OR DE "Dependent Personality Disorder" OR DE "Histrionic Personality Disorder" OR DE "Narcissistic Personality Disorder" OR DE "Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder" OR DE "Paranoid Personality Disorder" OR DE "Passive Aggressive Personality Disorder" OR DE "Sadomasochistic Personality" OR DE "Schizoid Personality Disorder" OR DE "Schizotypal Personality Disorder" OR DE "Aspergers Syndrome" OR DE "Autism" OR DE "Rett Syndrome" OR DE "Acute Psychosis" OR DE "Affective Psychosis" OR DE "Alcoholic Psychosis" OR DE "Capgras Syndrome" OR DE "Childhood Psychosis" OR DE "Chronic Psychosis" OR DE "Experimental Psychosis" OR DE "Hallucinosis" OR DE "Paranoia (Psychosis)" OR DE "Postpartum Psychosis" OR DE "Reactive Psychosis" OR DE "Schizophrenia" OR DE "Senile Psychosis" OR DE "Toxic Psychoses" OR DE "Cyclothymic Personality" OR DE "Anaclitic Depression" OR DE "Dysthymic Disorder" OR DE "Endogenous Depression" OR DE "Postpartum Depression" OR DE "Reactive Depression" OR DE "Recurrent Depression" OR DE "Treatment Resistant Depression" OR DE "Hypomania" OR DE "Acrophobia" OR DE "Agoraphobia" OR DE "Claustrophobia" OR DE "Ophidiophobia" OR DE "School Phobia" OR DE "Social Phobia" OR DE "Alzheimer's Disease" OR DE "Creutzfeldt Jakob Syndrome" OR DE "Picks Disease" OR DE "Senile Psychosis" OR DE "Masochistic Personality" OR DE "Acute Schizophrenia" OR DE "Alcoholic Hallucinosis" OR DE "Childhood Schizophrenia" OR DE "Symbiotic Infantile Psychosis" OR DE "Paranoia (Psychosis)" OR DE "Folie A Deux" OR DE "Catatonic Schizophrenia" OR DE "Paranoid Schizophrenia" OR DE "Process Schizophrenia" OR DE "Schizophrenia (Disorganized Type)" OR DE "Schizophreniform Disorder" OR DE "Undifferentiated Schizophrenia" OR DE "Delirium Tremens" OR DE "Korsakoffs Psychosis" OR DE "Wernicke's Syndrome"

Use at your own risk.

Advance Directives

"Decision Making"[Mesh] OR "Advance Care Planning"[Mesh] OR Advance Directive Adherence"[Mesh] OR "Third Party Consent"[Mesh]

End stage dementia

"Dementia"[Mesh]
AND
"end stage"[tiab] OR "late stage"[tiab] OR "later stage"[tiab] OR "late stages"[tiab] OR "later stages"[tiab]

Mental Capacity

For some reason, it's really hard to remember this one. I've done searches with this term probably about once a year and every time I remember that there's a term for this but it takes me forever to figure out what it is.

Most doctors ask for information about mental capacity or the capacity to make health decisions. But the MeSH term is:

Mental Competency

In the occupational setting

Mix and match from the following:


"Occupational Diseases"[Mesh] OR "Occupational Injuries"[Mesh] OR "Occupational Exposure"[Mesh]

"Noise, Occupational"[Mesh] OR "Accidents, Occupational"[Mesh]

"Occupational Health Physicians"[Mesh] OR "Occupational Health"[Mesh] OR "Occupational Health Services"[Mesh] OR "Occupational Health Nursing"[Mesh] OR "Occupational Medicine"[Mesh]

"Worker's Compensation"[Mesh] OR "Rehabilitation, Vocational"[Mesh] OR "Return to Work"[Mesh]

"Occupational Groups"[Mesh] OR "Occupations"[Mesh] OR "Industry"[Mesh]

Differential Diagnosis

PubMed:
"Differential Diagnosis"[Mesh] OR mimic*[tiab] OR masquerad*[tiab]

Ovid Medline:
exp Differential Diagnosis/ OR mimic*.mp. OR masquerad*.mp.

EBSCO Medline:
MH "Differential Diagnosis+" OR mimic* OR masquerad*